Wife, you didn't really drug me, did you?

Chapter 500 Chen Jie: Palace Intrigue? That's just idle talk.

After hearing Hei Ligu's words, Chen Jie said, "So, my third brother, Fang Guozhen, is trapped in the Mad Demon Formation behind the mountain, and the brothers of the Divine Dragon Sect are most likely imprisoned as slaves?"

Hei Ligu said, "I think so, but when we escaped, the Dragon Cult members on the island were still resisting, so I don't know if they were really captured and enslaved."

"But based on my understanding of Prince Bashar, that's how it is; he will definitely do it."

"Even if we don't force them to do hard labor, we should still try to contact the Dragon Cult and demand a high ransom."

“He would never kill someone so easily; it would be such a waste. Basha would never do that; he’s a guy who won’t do anything without a profit.”

Upon hearing Hei Ligu's words, the young prince Zhao Facai nodded and said, "Yes, my uncle is just that kind of person."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie turned to look at the people behind him and asked, "Big brother, second brother, what do you think about this?"

When Liu Futong heard Chen Jie ask him a question, he frowned slightly and after a long while said, "We can't leave the third brother unsaid. We have to go to Siam."

Peng Yingyu said, "Yes, it seems so. The third brother is like a brother to us. If we don't save him, I'm afraid..."

At this point, Peng Yingyu stopped talking, fearing that their brotherly bond would become a joke.

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie thought for a moment and said, "Brothers, Siam is far overseas. Even if we cross the ocean, it will take more than a month. Once we arrive, rescuing people, especially when facing the demon-trapping formation set up by Bodhidharma, will probably not be easy to break."

"This round trip will probably take three or four months, or even longer, but chaos has already broken out in the Central Plains."

"Li Siqi in the Northwest is sharpening his sword, and he has long intended to go south and attack our Hubei. In addition, the court suffered such a huge loss from our Zoroastrianism last time. If you leave, I am afraid the court will directly send troops north and hunt down Bright Peak."

"At that time, the entire Zoroastrian foundation, built up over a thousand years, will likely be destroyed in an instant."

Chen paused for a moment before continuing, "Therefore, neither of you can be touched in this world. You two are pillars of the nation right now. If you leave, the world will surely descend into chaos."

Hearing Chen Jie's words, Liu Futong hesitated. After all, he knew his own situation. The Zoroastrian Church was now entirely supported by him. He could leave for a short time, but once he went out to sea, the vast ocean would make it impossible for them to contact each other.

This is tantamount to cutting off all contact, and just thinking about how terrifying it is to be cut off at this point.

Zoroastrianism cannot withstand another major attack, especially at this time.

Therefore, Liu Futong was untouchable. This was because Chen Jieyi had said something that caused Liu Futong to fall silent.

As for Peng Yingyu, Chen Jie would never let him leave. Huangzhou Prefecture is now a lucrative prize, especially after this grand wedding, its wealth is no longer a secret.

If Huangzhou Prefecture didn't have a master of the Fusion God Realm guarding it at this time, it would be a lamb to the slaughter.

How could any hero in the world not want to come here and take a bite?

Therefore, Chen Jie needed a powerful expert to suppress Huangzhou Prefecture so that he could leave with peace of mind.

Peng Yingyu was a good choice, so Chen Jie looked at Peng Yingyu and said, "Second brother, you can't go to Siam either. Hubei has always been a thorn in the side of Prince Qi, Li Siqi. With you in charge, he can still behave himself. But once you leave, the whole of Hubei will be powerless to fight back against Li Siqi's Canglang Army."

"This is an immense crisis."

"So, second brother, I don't agree with you leaving Hubei."

Chen Jie spoke directly to Peng Yingyu, who looked at him and said, "If neither the boss nor I can go, then you're the only one left. But Siam is clearly a dangerous place. If you go in without thinking, it will be very dangerous."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie said, "Second Brother is right."

After finishing his sentence, Chen Jie looked at Zhao Facai and asked, "A Cai, how strong is your country's national advisor? How many times has he reached the Fusion God realm? And are there any other Fusion God realm experts in your country?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Facai looked bewildered and turned to look at Hei Ligu, who in turn looked at Chen Jiedao.

"Our country's national advisor should be at the second level of the Fusion God realm."

Second Transformation of the Melting God!

Chen Jie nodded slightly upon hearing this. This strength was not beyond Chen Jie's expectations. After all, it was a small overseas country with scarce resources. It was already quite good that they could reach the second stage of the Fusion God realm.

At this moment, Hei Ligu continued, "Besides the Imperial Preceptor, our Zhenguo Wuping King also has the strength of a first-stage Fusion God."

Prince Zhenguo Wuping?
Chen Jie was taken aback upon hearing the name and looked at Zhao Fa, guessing, "Who is this?"

Zhao Fa guessed, "Don't worry, he shouldn't be our enemy. He is the general who has been guarding the northern border of my Siam for many years, and he is also my cousin."

Zhao Fa thought for a moment and found a more fitting description.

Zhao Fa then guessed, "After we return to our country, we can actually look for Prince Wuping first. If we hadn't met Sister Fang on the way, we were originally planning to seek refuge with my uncle."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie said, "Oh, so the Prince of Wuping must be our ally?"

Zhaofa guessed, "Yes, they should be considered allies."

After saying this, Chen Jie nodded slightly and said, "Well, that's good. At least we're not completely isolated."

As he spoke, Chen Jie looked at Peng Yingyu and Liu Futong and said, "Big brother, second brother, look, the other side only has a second-stage Fusion God Realm cultivator. I'll be careful, they can't do anything to me. Besides, they also have an ally, the first-stage Fusion God Realm cultivator, Wu Pingwang."

"With two against one, we should have a chance of success. I will find a way to rescue Third Brother. As long as Third Brother can be rescued, with his strength, that Siamese national advisor should not be too much of a problem."

Upon hearing this, Peng Yingyu and Liu Futong said, "Those overseas affairs are unpredictable, Fourth Brother, you must not be careless."

Chen Jie said, "Don't worry, brothers, I know what I'm doing."

Chen Jie thought that he had just learned from the two elders, Gui and He, that the Hundred Losses Elder might have been to Siam, and that the Hundred Losses Elder might possess the Four Seasons Celestial Phenomena Technique and the Winter Character Technique. Therefore, Chen Jie had originally wanted to go to Siam, and now that he had encountered this situation, he might as well do it all at once.

Having figured all this out, Chen Jie finalized his itinerary.

Liu Futong returned to Guangming Peak to oversee the overall situation, while Peng Yingyu helped Chen Jie guard Huangzhou Prefecture and also kept an eye on Xiangyang to prevent Chen Jie from having any worries about the rear.

With this arrangement made, Chen Jiu Si will be the only one traveling to Siam this time.

Upon hearing that Chen Jieyao was going alone, Chen Xiaohu stood up and said, "Brother Jiu Si, I'll go with you."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie said, "Xiao Hu, you can't move. You stay here and protect Huangzhou Prefecture. Without me, only you can take charge of the overall situation."

This is no joke. Chen Xiaohu is Chen Jie's most trusted and trusted subordinate. Chen Jie has been away from Huangzhou Prefecture for a long time, and only a trusted subordinate like Chen Xiaohu can put Chen Jie at ease.

After much trouble, the final selection was made: Chen Jie, Fang Susu, and Zhang Wuxia and Zhang Cuishan from Wudang who insisted on going to Siam to rescue Fang Guozhen.

Zhang Wuxia was the first to stand up and volunteer to go to Siam when he heard that Fang Susu was going. His strength had also improved a lot recently, and he had reached the Furnace Realm.

In response, Chen Jie suggested that Zhang Cuishan go back and ask Song Yuanqiao what the great hero meant, lest he come and go without Song Yuanqiao knowing, and then he wouldn't be able to explain it to Wudang.

After all, this trip to Siam is quite risky.

After hearing that his senior brother's consent was needed, Zhang Cuishan decisively went to find Song Yuanqiao. Soon Song Yuanqiao arrived and told Chen Jie that he agreed to let Zhang Laowu go to Siam with Fang Susu.

Mo Shenggu, who was standing nearby, wanted to follow as well, but Song Yuanqiao stopped him because Song Yuanqiao said that their master's 110th birthday was coming up, and all of them, his fellow disciples, had to help out at Wudang.

Mo Shenggu was quite critical of this, thinking, "Good heavens, my senior brother can go to sea, but I can't."

Song Yuanqiao replied: "They went to rescue their father-in-law, are you going to go too?"

Mo Shenggu was speechless for a moment, then said, "I don't want to create a lot of trouble for myself. Women, they're just troublemakers."

Upon hearing Mo Shenggu's words, Yin Liting chimed in, "Nonsense! Men and women are like the Yin and Yang of a master. Only when Yin and Yang are in balance can life continue. If everyone stopped marrying, wouldn't the world descend into chaos?"

"Look at Senior Brother, look at his child, Xiao Qingshu is already old enough to run errands all over the place."

Upon hearing this, Mo Shenggu said, "I want to learn from my second senior brother, to punish evil and promote good, and to be a man who is alone."

Yin Liting strongly disagreed upon hearing this, after all, he still had his own Xiaohong.

Wudang is now divided into two factions: one is the marriage faction, represented by figures such as Song Yuanqiao, Zhang Cuishan, and Yin Liting.

The other group consists of singles: the second oldest, Yu Lianzhou; the third oldest, Yu Daiyan; and the seventh oldest, Mo Shenggu.

As for the fourth brother, Zhang Songxi, he was the most shrewd and the kind of person you'd want to find but hadn't yet.

Therefore, the two factions argued endlessly. Of course, the old Taoist Zhang Sanfeng did not make any demands on this. If you wanted to get married and have children, then you could get married and have children. If you did not want to get married and have children, then you could not get married and have children.

Master Zhang has always governed by non-interference.

At this time, Zhang Cuishan also decided to go overseas with Fang Susu to rescue Fang Guozhen, so he was very enthusiastic.

After final confirmation, Chen Jie realized that the operation would consist of six people: himself, Zhang Cuishan, Fang Susu, and the Siamese trio, all heading to Siam to rescue people.

Everyone else proceeded with their assigned tasks as usual. As for the departure date, Chen decided to set it for two days later.

By then, all the guests could be seen off, and they could set sail. Moreover, since the large ships that the Divine Dragon Sect could sail with had been destroyed by the Kingdom of Siam, Fang Susu could only order the Divine Dragon Sect's branch in Quanzhou to work overtime to build new warships immediately, otherwise they would not be able to set sail at all.

Fortunately, the Divine Dragon Cult purchases many large ships every year. The port in Quanzhou is responsible for building the ships, and the frames are prepared in advance for the Divine Dragon Cult to purchase.

After Fang Susu escaped back this time, the first thing she did was to order a large ship from the Quanzhou branch in preparation for her next trip to Siam.

It would take more than half a month for the ship to be ready for launch. Fang Susu took about five or six days to reach Huangzhou Prefecture, and it would probably take her a while to get back to the ship. Therefore, Chen Jie decided to use these two days to sort out some affairs in Huangzhou Prefecture.

Furthermore, it is indeed a bit rushed to go to sea right after marrying Zhao Ya.

And so, a day later, Zhu Chongba found Chen Jiu Si, bid him farewell, and said he was leaving.

Chen Jie was taken aback and looked at Zhu Chongba, saying, "Brother Chongba, won't you stay a few more days?"

Zhu Chongba said, "I really have business to attend to in Haozhou, otherwise I would have liked to stay a few more days."

Chen Jie said, "Then I won't see Brother Chongba off."

"Alright, then I'll take my leave. We're far apart, but we'll meet again someday!"

Zhu Chongba clasped his hands in greeting and said that after the two finished exchanging pleasantries, Zhu Chongba turned and left.

Once outside, Tang He looked at Zhu Chongba with confusion and asked, "Brother, why are we in such a hurry to leave?"

Zhu Chongba said, "My master informed me that the Shaolin monks in the Indian direction reported that they have discovered traces of the Innate Dao Fruit in the plateau region. We need to go to the plateau."

Upon hearing this, Tang He said, "We'd better hurry. If this news gets out, it might be too late for us."

Zhu Chongba said, "Yes, let's go. We need to finish this quickly and decisively, without delay!"

Then the group headed directly towards India.

With the world about to undergo a major change, everyone is trying to become stronger. Not only Chen Jiu Si, Zhu Chong Ba, and many others are doing everything they can to become stronger!
Awaiting the final upheaval in the world, when the winds of change gather once more, to choose the ultimate king.

And so, Zhu Chongba sent Li Shanchang and Ma Xiuying away, leaving only himself and Tang He to head directly to the plateau region. The journey was not easy and would likely take some time.

After seeing Zhu Chongba off, Chen Jie stayed at home with Zhao Ya. Not long after their marriage, he had to go on a long trip, and he always felt that he owed Zhao Ya a lot for this.

However, Zhao Ya was quite magnanimous and directly said, "A true man's ambition lies in all directions."

They sent Chen Jie away. Chen Jie was deeply moved by Zhao Ya's kindness and generosity. Zhao Ya felt she had nothing better to do, so she asked Chen Jie if she could take charge of an army.

After some thought, Chen Jie decided to allow Zhao Ya to participate in military planning and to assist in military affairs in Huangzhou Prefecture. However, Zhao Ya's rights were restricted.

Chen Jie gave Zhao Ya the right to recruit soldiers on her own and form the five Qilin Legions of Huangzhou Prefecture!

Chen Jie currently commands four legions in Huangzhou Prefecture, each with between 10,000 and 15,000 men, making them the elite of the elite.

The First Legion, the White Tiger Army, was the old guard of Chen Jiemian County, commanded by Chen Xiaohu.

The Second Legion, the Azure Dragon Army, is the old guard of Huangzhou Prefecture, commanded by Jin Yanzi.

The Third Legion, the Vermilion Bird Army, was composed of martial arts figures from four prefectures, including Xianning Prefecture, and was renamed by its commander, the Soul-Slaying Spear Shi.

The Fourth Army Corps, the Xuanwu Army, is not yet fully formed; only a general outline exists. Its commander-in-chief is Du Xiong, whom Chen Jiexuan selected.

Finally, there's the fifth legion that Chen Jie is gradually preparing to form, the Qilin Legion. Chen Jie plans to assign the commander of this legion to Zhao Ya.

Although Zhao Ya is the city lord's wife, she is more like a commander than any other commander in Huangzhou Prefecture.

It should be noted that Zhao Ya's military talent was not much less than Wang Baobao's. Moreover, she grew up in the Bailu Army and had a deeper understanding of military formations. Furthermore, she also knew the Wumu Legacy passed down to her by Chen Jie.

It can be said that her military talent was quite formidable.

If she were a man, she would surely be a fierce general. It's a pity she's a woman, but being a woman doesn't matter. Chen Jie allows her to realize her dream.

Therefore, Chen Jie, acting on behalf of the city lord of Huangzhou, issued an order to Zhao Ya, authorizing him to build an army named Qilin, with a maximum strength of 10,000 men.

Zhao Ya also shared her thoughts: she wanted to train a heavy cavalry unit.

Heavy cavalry were a rare sight on the entire battlefield because the requirements were extremely strict. Heavy cavalrymen needed to wear heavy armor, and a set of heavy armor cost nearly a hundred taels of silver. A full complement of 10,000 heavy cavalrymen would have armor costing nearly a hundred taels of silver.

And it's not just a matter of the armor itself. Such a heavy suit of armor needs at least one person who can bear the weight of it to wear it!
Such a person must be a martial artist, and not too weak. At the very least, they must be at the Willow Tendon Realm or even the Iron Bone Realm. How much money would it cost to train such a strong person?

The cost of the elixir was an astronomical figure.

Besides all that, think about it, what kind of horse would a person in heavy armor need to carry him? And the horse can't be naked; it also needs to be covered in heavy armor.

With such a heavy load, this horse definitely can't be an ordinary warhorse.

Such a warhorse would not be overpriced at one or two hundred taels of silver. Therefore, the average cost of a heavy cavalryman would be between eight hundred and one thousand taels of silver.

If you were to maintain 10,000 heavy cavalry, it would cost between eight and ten million taels of silver. Such a large sum of silver would be enough to instill fear in anyone.

No dynasty's finances could support the cost of maintaining 10,000 heavy cavalry, so Zhao Ya's idea was definitely a bit far-fetched.

Zhao Ya looked at Chen Jie and said, "I can use my dowry to cover these expenses. After all, I have nowhere to spend money now. I also need to find a way to spend the more than one million taels of silver I earn every year."

After listening to Zhao Ya's idea, Chen Jie thought for a moment and said, "Alright, since you have such an idea, I can't say anything more. But 10,000 people is too many. I can only allow you to support 2,000 people at most."

"Two thousand heavy cavalry is enough. On the battlefield, two thousand heavy cavalry are enough to destroy any enemy formation. In fact, if these two thousand cavalry were to move freely, the enemy's troops might be as fragile as paper dolls."

"Of course, the cost of these two thousand heavy cavalrymen for a year is enough to support two or three similar units of ten thousand men each."

"Two thousand heavy cavalry would cost more than two million a year, even with Zhao Ya subsidizing it with her own dowry, and Chen Jie's finance department only needing to pay one million a year."

"That's really expensive."

Chen Jie couldn't help but sigh, then looked at Zhao Ya and asked, "Ya Ya, is two thousand heavy cavalry feasible?"

Hearing this, Zhao Ya nodded and said, "Okay, two thousand it is. But you have to promise me that when our Huangzhou Prefecture becomes bigger, we will expand our heavy cavalry. This is definitely a powerful weapon on the battlefield."

Zhao Ya said, and Chen Jie replied, "However, heavy cavalry also has its problems; the hook-and-sickle spear can break through them."

Zhao Ya said, "It can be equipped with a horse's leg guard. Moreover, the hook-and-sickle spear can break through the premise that it can restrict the charge of heavy cavalry. If heavy cavalry charge, anyone who dares to stop them will be smashed into a pile of minced meat."

Chen Jie agreed, after all, heavy cavalry was equivalent to tanks in the era of cold weapons, and it was definitely a force that could change the course of battle.

After receiving the order, Zhao Ya took Chen Jie's note and went out. She now had something to do, so she was full of energy.

Chen Jie also had a clear understanding of the roles and responsibilities of his three wives.

Each of his three wives has her own unique characteristics. Su Yunjin is well-educated and comes from a scholarly family. Therefore, Chen Jie plans to entrust her with the education work in Huangzhou Prefecture.

Moreover, she is doing very well now. She is currently the vice principal of the university in Huangzhou Prefecture. Of course, the principal is still Chen Jiu Si, and Chen Jie will not give up this position.

Next up was Huang Wan'er. Huang Wan'er didn't really have any special talents except for her good looks. But even someone without special talents can be discovered. Later, Chen Jie found that she was quite interested in business.

Therefore, Chen Jie's businesses are now managed by Huang Wan'er.

For example, Huang Wan'er was the manager of the First Commercial Building in Huangzhou Prefecture, and she was also in charge of some of the nearby shops.

At least give her something to do.

As for Zhao Ya, needless to say, she comes from a military family and has a knack for troop deployment and training. Therefore, Chen Jie gave her a military task to do.

Chen Jie didn't want his women to sit at home embroidering and then get together to play palace intrigue.

Women are prone to fighting. Even the best of women can develop ill intentions over time. So how can we prevent women from fighting amongst themselves?
After careful consideration, Chen Jie concluded that the so-called palace intrigue among women was actually just idleness. In the imperial palace, a group of women had nothing to do except fight over a man. How could they not be scheming against each other every day?
But what if we let them all have their own careers?

Think about it, Zhao Ya has been training at the military training ground all day and is so tired that she doesn't want to move. At this time, someone says that Chen Jiu Si went to Madam Su's place. What will Zhao Ya think? It doesn't matter where he went, she is not in a good state to do anything else right now.

Similarly, with endless teaching documents and official papers to review every day, Su Yunjin had no time for palace intrigue, and of course, she wasn't someone who enjoyed it.

Huang Wan'er was exhausted after a long day, dealing with all the account books. Asking her to engage in palace intrigue? Forget it, she didn't have time.

Chen Jie kept everyone busy, physically isolating them from their usual meetings, only allowing them to see each other once a night. What was there to fight about then?

So Chen Jie's cleverness lies in this: after doing all this, Chen Jie packed his bags and prepared to head to Siam!

(End of this chapter)